Midfield to hold public hearing on housing authority plan

The city of Midfield has tentatively set Aug. 8 as the date for the public to give its input on establishing a Midfield Housing Authority.

The public hearing will take place during the regular City Council meeting.

City officials recently collected the 25 sig­natures of Midfield residents that are re­quired by the state in the first phase of es­tablishing a housing authority. Mayor Gary Richardson said the next step will be to in­form the public of the benefits of a housing authority.

"We'll tell them all the positive aspects of having a housing authority and get their opinion on it," Richardson said. "The next step after that will be to get an ordinance together."

Richardson proposed the housing au­thority to help promote home ownership in Midfield.

About 331 of the 2,330 houses in Midfield are vacant, according to the 2010 Census. About 28 percent of the city's houses are rented, and Richardson said he'd like to see Midfield promote more home ownership as opposed to renting.

Housing authorities in Birmingham and other neighboring cities have first-time home ownership programs that could serve as a model in Midfield, he said. The pro­gram would not seek to bring a public hous­ing community to the city, Richardson said.